Nearly 220 km from Kolkata, Shantiniketan is the most famous and easily accessible tourist destination of west Bengal. Various courses including science and fine arts are taught in natural environments. The institute has a legacy of great students which include, Gayatri Devi, Maharani of Jaipur, Late Prime Minister of India, Ms. Indira Gandhi, Late Film maker Satyajit Ray and also the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. Some buildings worth a visit on the campus are the Uttarayan Complex where the great poet lived, the Bichitra Bhavan designed by his son and the Rabindra Bhavan that houses a research institute and a museum.

The best time to visit Shantiniketan is the time when the University celebrates the festivals unique only to Shantiniketan. The Poush Mela is a winter fair held in December which commemorates beginning of open-air classes at Shantiniketan. Poush celebrations at Shantiniketan feature the main Tagore art forms - dance-drama, music, literature and art. The fair has extensive displays of folk arts and crafts. Its theme is a blend of Birbhum''s Adivasi-Santhal and Baul folk and tribal cultures, alongside Tagorean innovations in art and culture.
The Vasantotsav held around the mid March is another festive time when spring is welcomed with cultural programmes and pageants of colour, giving a vibrant look to the whole of Shantiniketan.

Santiniketan has the distinct identity of culture and heritage, which gives the place a unique soft touch. This is a preferred tourist destination developed as a part of the popular religious-cultural tourist circuit of the region viz. Santiniketan-Bakreswar-Tarapith.The place was originally selected by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore to practice religious mediations. Rabindranath started an experimental school known as ‘Brahmacharya Ashrama' here with an objective to educate the student in close liaison with nature in the style of ‘Tapovana' of ancient India . Later an international university named Visva-Bharati came up as a center of Indian culture and the meeting place of the East and the West. Rabindranath was great lover of nature. He planted trees in and around the Ashrama and gave it a green look. He introduced several festival to celebrate seasons, to commemorate great name and these were free from any religious narrowness.